Easy to Read Version|읽기쉬운성경

Servants of God’s New Agreement
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1Why are we beginning again to tell you all these good things about ourselves? Do we need letters of introduction to you or from you, like some other people? 2No, you yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts. It is known and read by all people. 3You show that you are a letter from Christ that he sent through us. This letter is not written with ink but with the Spirita of the living God. It is not written on stoneb tablets but on human hearts.
 4We can say this, because through Christ we feel sure before God. 5I don't mean that we are able to do anything good ourselves. It is God who makes us able to do all that we do. 6He made us able to be servants of a new agreementc from himself to his people. It is not an agreement of written laws, but it is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

An Agreement With Greater Glory
 7The old agreementc that brought death, written with words on stone, came with God's gloryd. In fact, the face of Mosese was so bright with glory (a glory that was ending) that the people of Israelf could not continue looking at his face. 8So surely the new agreement that comes from the life-giving Spirita has even more glory. 9This is what I mean: That old agreement judged people guilty of sin, but it had glory. So surely the new agreement that makes people right with God has much greater glory. 10That old agreement had glory. But it really loses its glory when it is compared to the much greater glory of the new agreement. 11If the agreement that was brought to an end came with glory, then the agreement that never ends has much greater glory.
 12We are so sure of this hope that we can speak very openly. 13We are not like Moses, who put a covering over his face. He covered his face so that the people of Israel would not see it. The glory was disappearing, and Moses did not want them to see it end. 14But their minds were closed. And even today, when those people read the writings of the old agreementg, that same covering hides the meaning. That covering has not been removed for them. It is taken away only through Christ. 15Yes, even today, when they read the Law of Moses, there is a covering over their minds. 16But when someone changes and follows the Lord, that covering is taken away. 17The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And our faces are not covered. We all show the Lord's glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings more and more glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
aSpirit See “Holy Spirit.”
b3:3 stone Meaning the law that God gave to Moses, which was written on stone tablets. Also in verse 7. See Ex. 24:12; 25:16.
cagreement A contract or agreement from God to his people. The agreement that God gave his people at Mount Sinai, based on the Law of Moses, became the most important for the Israelites or Jews. It replaced or renewed all other agreements, such as that given earlier to Abraham. In the New Testament it is referred to as the “old” or “first” agreement. After Jesus Christ came and offered his life as payment for the sins of all people, God was able to offer a “new” and “better” agreement based on Christ’s sacrifice.
dglory A word that refers to the special qualities of God. Often it means brightness, referring to the way he appears to people. Sometimes it means majesty or power, referring to a kind of greatness that cannot be compared to anything in human experience. It can also include the ideas of wealth, honor, fame, or respect, especially in expressions of praise.
eMoses One of the most important leaders of the Israelites during the time of the Old Testament. God used him to give the people his law, which is often called “the Law of Moses.”
fIsrael Another name for Jacob (see Gen. 32:24-28) and for the nation God chose to accomplish his plan of blessing the world through the Messiah (see “Messiah”). The people of Israel were the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons. In the New Testament this name is sometimes used in a broader sense to mean all of God’s people.
g3:14 old agreement See “agreement” in the Word List. Here, “old agreement” is used to mean the Law of Moses on which that agreement was based.